Measurements of the CO2 system parameters in the Mediterranean Sea are relatively scarce and not representative for all its sub-basins. High quality data collected on May 2013 during the 2013 MedSeA cruise covering the whole basin were used to provide for the first time linear relationships estimating the total alkalinity (AT) and the total dissolved inorganic carbon (CT) from salinity in each Mediterranean basin and sub-basin at different depth layers. These correlations show that a substantial quantity of alkalinity is added to the seawater during its residence time in the Mediterranean Sea, whereas the biological processes, the air-sea exchange and the high remineralization rate are responsible of the high CT concentrations in this sea. Moreover, these fits could be used to estimate the AT and CT from salinity where there are not available measurements of the carbonate system parameters.

Touratier F. and Goyet C., 2011. Impact of the Eastern Mediterranean Transient on the distribution of anthropogenic CO2 and first estimate of acidification for the Mediterranean Sea. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 58,1–15.

Mariotti A., Struglia M.V., Zeng N., Lau K.-M., 2002. The Hydrological Cycle in the Mediterranean Region and Implications for the Water Budget of the Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Climate, 15, 1674–1690.

[22]

Bergamasco A. and Malanotte-Rizzoli P., 2010. The circulation of the Mediterranean Sea: a historical review of experimental investigations. Advances in Oceanography and Limnology, 1 (1), 11–28.

[23]

Touratier F. and Goyet C., 2009. Decadal evolution of anthropogenic CO2 in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 56 (10), 1708–1716.